The last time anyone saw Kim Delaney, the star of Lifetime’s drama Army Wives, she was delivering a rambling, incoherent speech during last September’s Liberty Medal Award ceremony in Pennsylvania. But in her first interview since video of that night’s cringe-worthy performance went viral, the veteran TV actress told EW exclusively there’s nothing she can do today to change what she now dismisses as a “bad week.”

“I wasn’t feeling great [and] there were technical problems,” Delaney explains of her performance at the event. “I was prepared, but it didn’t come out that way. It was like the perfect storm for something to go wrong. And then it goes viral! There’s just nothing you can do [but] deal with it, right?”

Deal with it and stay focused on your hit show: On March 4, Army Wives kicked off its sixth season with 3.6 million viewers, maintaining its position as the network’s most-watched program. The two-hour premiere was also No. 1 among women over 18, women 25-54 and women 18-49.

Fans will be excited to know that Delaney and her co-stars – including Catherine Bell (Denise), Sally Pressman (Roxy), and newest recruit Kelli Williams (The Practice), who bows March 11 – are shooting a total of 23 episodes this season, though it’s unclear whether the last 10 will air this season or be saved for later. Delaney will also reunite this season with her All My Children co-star Susan Lucci, who will play the wife of a retired brigadier general who befriends Delaney’s character, Claudia Joy. Lucci will appear in at least three episodes.

(Delaney also acknowledged that she was in talks with AMC about returning for the sudser’s final episodes but her schedule wouldn’t allow it. When speaking of her three, memorable years playing Jenny Gardner on the ABC soap, she says she had “no idea” her character was so popular and only asked to leave because she wanted to try something new).

As for Army Wives, “I’m really having a wonderful time,” Delaney said. She calls Claudia Joy “the heart of the show, and the producers still come up with creative ideas for her. She’s so much fun to play.”